No accord, but a warmer tone

U.S. talks with Russia fail to sway Kremlin on missile shield

March 19, 2008|By Alex Rodriguez, TRIBUNE CORRESPONDENT

MOSCOW — U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrapped up talks with Russian leaders Tuesday without any Kremlin commitment to drop opposition to U.S. plans for a missile defense system in Eastern Europe.

But unlike their last visit here, there were no lectures from the Russian side and no threats, a sign that relations between Washington and Moscow are warming after a long, deep chill.

The centerpiece of the meetings was missile defense, as it was during the two Americans' last visit to the Russian capital in October, when they met with Putin and later with Lavrov and Serdyukov.

That meeting was overshadowed by a tense encounter with Putin, who lectured and berated Rice and Gates for moving ahead with plans for missile defense on Russia's doorstep without taking into account Moscow's view.

A warm reception

On Tuesday, Putin warmly received Rice and Gates and called a letter from President Bush laying out a framework for future U.S.-Russian relations a "serious document."

Reaching an accord on elements of the framework would enable both sides to say "that our dialogue is developing in a very productive manner," Putin told Rice and Gates.

At a news conference after Tuesday's daylong talks Tuesday, Lavrov appeared equally cordial. "What happened in October happened in October. It's March and it's an optimistic month," he said. The difference in the tone, analysts said, lies in their timing. Rice and Gates' first visit came before crucial Russian parliament elections and the presidential election won by Medvedev, Putin's hand-picked successor and protege.

"Putin had to take into account the great influence of anti-American sentiment in Russia, and he played the anti-American card in both campaigns," said Yevgeny Volk, an analyst with the Heritage Foundation's Moscow office. "But now it's not so important to be anti-American so openly, and Russian leadership understood that it perhaps went too far in its confrontation with the U.S."

The change of Russian demeanor was evident in the Kremlin's posture toward U.S. plans to deploy a ballistic-missile defense system based in the Czech Republic and Poland that would shield Europe and American troops based there from a potential attack from Iran.

The Kremlin has maintained there is no evidence Iran would have long-range missile ability any time soon. And they worry that future modifications to the shield could pose a strategic threat to Russian national security.

While Lavrov made clear that Russia continues to oppose the missile defense system, he said Russia is willing to scrutinize measures Rice and Gates proposed that are meant to allay the Kremlin's concerns.

At the news conference, neither side would discuss what those measures are. In the past, U.S. officials have proposed holding off on activating the shield until Washington has proof that Iran has missiles capable of striking European territory.

Gates has said the U.S. would allow Russia monitoring access to the shield's interceptor missiles in Poland and radar system in the Czech Republic as a means of ensuring that the system isn't directed at Russia.

Framework for progress

Both sides agreed that the Rice and Gates delegation would put their proposals in writing by Tuesday evening and submit them to Russian experts for review.

"Since the U.S. is going to carry this out," Lavrov said, "those proposals that we are expecting to receive on paper today seemed to us, as I said, important and useful for the minimization of our concerns."

Rice and Gates said they were encouraged by the Russian side's receptiveness to their proposed concessions. Asked when he expected the Kremlin to respond, Gates said, "reasonably quickly."

"We've leaned very far forward in this in an effort to provide reassurance," Gates said.

Underpinning the tone of cooperation that both sides tried to convey is a "strategic framework" for U.S.-Russian relations that Rice and Gates discussed with their Russian counterparts.

Rice said the document lists issues on which Russia and the U.S. share interests, such as combating nuclear terrorism, as well as difficult, unresolved matters such as missile defense.

The document will provide a framework for U.S.-Russian ties as both countries prepare for leadership changes. Medvedev will succeed Putin as president May 7, and Bush leaves office in January.

"We've agreed on essentially what elements would go into this strategic framework," Rice said.